When they reached the diner, the south side of the small parking lot was blocked off. The B.B.’s sign was down and two men were standing on the bed of a pickup parked at the base of the pole, apparently getting ready to put up a new one. There’d been wind last night, but not enough to do that much damage, and Anita wondered if maybe kids had vandalized it.

They walked inside, a sullen waitress behind the counter telling them to sit wherever they wanted, and Jen chose a booth near the last window. All of the waitresses seemed unfriendly, Anita thought. And young. It had been awhile since she’d come to the diner, and she wondered what had happened to the older waitresses she remembered. Jen must have noticed, too, because she asked the dour woman who brought them their menus where Rose was. The woman dropped the menus on the table. “You want Rose? Fine.”

The waitress left, walking the length of the counter and striding through the swinging door into the kitchen. They heard her yell “Rose!” above the sound of pots and pans and clattering dishes, and a moment later, a waitress Anita did recognize came over to their table.

She smiled. “Hi, Jen.” She nodded pleasantly to Anita.

Jen spoke quietly. “What’s going on? I don’t recognize anyone. Did the new owner bring in his own staff?”

Rose leaned closer, taking out her pad and pen to make it seem as though she was writing down their orders. “The new owner’s not the owner anymore. He defaulted on his loan and the bank took it over.” She tapped the top of Jen’s menu with her pen.

Anita looked at her own menu and saw the name printed at the top: The First People’s Diner.

No.

She glanced out the window. The two men in the pickup truck were lifting the replacement sign they were going to mount on the top of the pole, and she could see the new name displayed in black letters against a yellow background. She looked toward Jen. Her friend’s face was ashen.

Rose’s voice was still low. “Oh, yeah.” She shook her head. “Big changes afoot. Half of the gals were fired the first day. Jeani quit. I’m looking for another job, but I can’t afford to leave until I find one.”

Anita had been looking at the menu. “This can’t be right,” she said, pointing. “Twenty bucks for a hamburger?”

“That’s the Montgomery Burger.”

“Nine dollars for a side order of fries?”

“Pomme frites, yes.”

“How much for a cup of coffee?” Jen asked.

“Our special blend? Six dollars a cup, no refills.”

Jen looked from Anita to Rose. “We can’t afford to eat here.”

The waitress nodded. “I know. No one can. Rafael, one of the cooks, thinks the bank’s trying to drive the diner out of business.”

“But why?” Jen asked. “They own the place now. If they wanted to close it, they could just close it.”